Fill Mead First

In 1922, the Colorado River Compact was signed by the federal government and
the seven states in the Colorado Basin. The Compact allocated water rights
between the states of the upper (New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, and Colorado) and
lower (Arizona, California, and Nevada) Colorado River Basin. This paved the
way for Hoover and Glen Canyon dams, which impound Lake Mead and Lake Powell,
as well as the entire Colorado River water management system.

Today, the Colorado River Basin is facing a water supply crisis. We now
know that the Colorado River Compact was based on flawed projections that
seriously overestimated actual future river flow and seriously
underestimated future water demand. As a result, growing demand, relentless
drought, and climate change are creating a water deficit of almost
1 million acre-feet a year in the Colorado River system. Both Lake Powell
and Lake Mead reservoirs are half empty, and scientists predict that they
will probably never fill again. The water supply of more than 22 million
people in the three Lower Basin states is in jeopardy.

The region is also facing an environmental crisis. The ecological health of
the Southwest is tied to the fate of the Colorado River. A century ago, the
Colorado was one of the world’s wildest rivers. Its extraordinary
variations in water flow, temperature, and sedimentation created a unique
ecosystem that was once home to 16 endemic fish species — the largest
percentage of any river system in North America.

The construction of more than a dozen dams during the last century has
critically damaged the integrity of the Colorado River. Hundreds of miles
of canyon and countless archaeological sites have been flooded, and dozens
of wildlife species have been endangered. Glen Canyon Dam is one of the
largest contributors to these problems, with major impacts that stretch
from above Glen Canyon, through the Grand Canyon, all the way to the
Colorado Delta in Mexico. In 1992, Congress passed the Grand Canyon
Protection Act, which sought to modify Glen Canyon Dam operations to
“protect, mitigate adverse impacts to, and improve the values for which
Grand Canyon National Park and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area were
established.” Unfortunately, efforts to implement the act have been only
partially successful.

GCI believes the time has come to change Colorado River management to
address today’s new realities. This is the goal of our Fill Lake Mead First
Project. Since Glen Canyon Dam was completed in 1963, the goal of water
managers has been to keep both Lake Powell and Lake Mead full. Now, with
two half-empty reservoirs, this policy no longer makes sense. Through our
Fill Lake Mead Project, GCI is advocating a new approach that consolidates
most of the water from both reservoirs in Lake Mead, with Lake Powell used
as a backup in flood years.

The Fill Lake Mead First strategy would benefit the people and ecosystems
of the Colorado River Basin and beyond. This approach would help to
maintain a reliable water supply for millions of people who depend on Lake
Mead, in major cities such as Las Vegas, Phoenix, Los Angeles, and San
Diego, as well as on farms across the region. It would also help to restore
Colorado River ecosystems. Water would be permitted to flow more naturally
through Glen Canyon Dam, helping to heal the damage done by the dam to the
Grand Canyon. A lowered Lake Powell would expose many more portions of Glen
Canyon that have been flooded under the reservoir, allowing them to recover
their natural beauty and integrity. This could all be done without
infringing on the water rights and needs of the Upper Basin states.

In 2013, GCI commissioned a study that analyzed water usage under the Fill
Mead First proposal. The study, “Loss Rates from Lake Powell and their
Impact on Management of the Colorado River”, which was published in the
Journal of the American Water Resources Association, shows that up to
300,000 acre feet of water could be saved each year in the Colorado Basin
if the Fill Mead First proposal were implemented. That’s the same amount of
water allocated to the entire state of Nevada.

The Fill Lake Mead First Project is an expansion on an idea that has been
proposed before by the likes of David Brower, who helped to found Glen Canyon
Institute. In the past, this strategy was considered “politically unrealistic.”
Now, in the face of unprecedented water supply and environmental challenges,
the various people and institutions involved in Colorado River water policy are
increasingly open to new ideas that they never would have considered before.
GCI is optimistic that this will lead to unprecedented, positive change in the
years to come, for the benefit of the people and ecosystems of the Colorado
River Basin.

The idea behind the Fill Mead First proposal is to move water stored in Lake
Powell downstream to Lake Mead. Currently, there is not enough water between
both reservoirs to keep even one full. This process would take place through
three stages.

The second stage of Fill Mead First would have Lake Powell’s level near 3,374
feet, near the river outlet works. At this stage a significant amount of Glen
Canyon would be exposed, allowing remarkable opportunities for restoration. No
power would be generated at this stage.

The third stage of the Fill Mead First would entail drilling new diversion
tunnels around Glen Canyon Dam, and allowing the Colorado River to flow freely
through it. This would allow for optimum restoration of Glen Canyon, and for
normalized sediment flows to take place in the Grand Canyon, which has been
starved of sediment for the last 50 years. Hydropower generation turbines could
be installed in the tunnels to produce electricity.

Glen Canyon Institute submitted the Fill Mead First proposal to the Glen Canyon
Dam Long Term Experimental Management Plan EIS, as well as the Bureau of
Reclamation Supply and Demand Study. Neither process considered the proposal
for further study. GCI will continue to facilitate research that supports the
Fill Mead First proposal, and push policy makers to take it into consideration.
With Lake Mead nearing shortage levels, and total storage between Powell and
Mead reaching record lows, the proposal to Fill Mead First becomes more
realistic and pragmatic everyday.